LIONESSES' LAST CHANCE

They must win third-place play-off to qualify for AFF Women's C'ship

- Kimberly Kwek

The Lionesses face a do-or-die task in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Women's Cup, after a 3-0 defeat by Indonesia in the semi-finals on Dec 2.

They must beat Timor-Leste in the third-place play-off on Dec 5 to advance to the 2025 AFF Women's Championship as one of the top three teams from this qualifying tournament in Laos.

Victory against Indonesia would have guaranteed world No. 138 Singapore a spot, but instead it was the 104th-ranked side who booked their ticket to the seven-team competition, along with Cambodia, who defeated Timor-Leste 3-0 in the other semi-final.

Lionesses captain Siti Rosnani Azman said: "This game was a tough one, they are a quality team. But the fact that we fought till the last whistle and gave our best, I'm quite proud of them.

"It's not the end for us. We lost the semi-final, but there's still one more game to go, so we are working towards that."

At the National Stadium KM16 in Vientiane, it took just six minutes for Indonesia to go ahead through 15-year-old Claudia Scheunemann, who plays for German club Hamburger SV's Under-17 team.